Process for rectifying and treating hydrocarbon vapors



June 2 1931. P, L A F, MAGlLL 1,807,924

IROCESS FOR RECTIFYING AND TREATING HYDHOCARBON VAPORS Filed Nov. 25, 1927 ooool mw *r INVENTQR BWM# I ATTORNEY i or extraction'o Patented June .2, 1931 UNITED STATES PQATENT ort-'plea4 PAUL LA FRONE MAGILL, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, T THE ROESSLER @c HASSLACHER CHEMICAL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE PROCESS FORvRECTIFYING AND TREATING HYDROCARBON VAPORS Application led November 25, 1927. Serial No. 235,491.

This invention relat to the treatment of vapors and espec1ally hydrocarbon vapors. These hydrocarbons may be obtained from any source, such as the distilla- 5' tion of crude petroleum, cracking of hydrocarbons, hydro enation ofi' coal, distillation Teil shale, casing head gasoline, etc. Tlxis'invention is'applicable to individual hydrocarbons as well as to mixlo tures. o

'l`hese untreated products are usually undesirable for use because of the presence ot substances such as certain sulphur compounds and unstable hydrocarbons which have an unpleasant odor, which resinify on standing, etc.. Thus in gasoline for motor use the quantity of these undesirables must be reduced to render the product stable and saleable. In the succeedin specification my invention Will be particu arly described with reference to what is commonly known as gasoline, 'but I do not wishto be limited thereto since the invention is applicable to the treatment of hydrocarbons in general.

The treating of crude gasoline usually results in the formation of certain solid and liquid by-products which may be polymers of unsaturated compounds in the gasoline or may be compounds of the treating agent with certain constituents of the gasof line, or both. ln general, such by-products are troublesome since the tend to foul the treating apparatus and tlie treating agent. In many cases it is necessary for economic reasons to recover the treating agent from its mixture with the by-products; this, of course, adds an extra operation, and may be attended With considerable difficulty and eX ense. This hprohibits the use of relative y vexpensive treating agents even though they produce a superior product. Thus, for example, such difficulties form one of the principal reasons why alkali metals have not been used to any great extent commercially in treating crude gasoreturned to the rectifier, to compensate for lines even though it is known that the treated product is of excellent quality.

Gasolines of high quality can be produced by contacting crude gasoline -va ors With a treating medium consisting of a kali metal in liquld h drocarbon, removing a part of the treate gasoline as vapors and part as liquid, the latter serving to remove the treatment by-products, in solution, in suspension or both. The liquid portion can then be treated by such processes as distillation for recovery of its gasoline content.

The object of thisinvention is to provide a process for treatin hydrocarbons comprlsing rectifying hy rocarbon vapors and passing the'rectified vapors Without their having undergone suflicient condensation to provide suflicient refluxing liquid for recti- 'cation, into a treating medium comprisin alkali metal in liquid h drocarbon, an condensing a portlon o these vapors therein. The amount thus condensed must be sufiicient to furnish liquid medium, to remove treatment by-products and, when i0 the insufiicient refiux liquid. The finished product is removed from the treatinglmedium as vapore The treatment byroducts are carried from the treating vesse b the condensate above referred to and pass dbwnward in the rectifier with the reflux liquid and are removed with the liquid efluent from the rectifier.

In this specification T speak of a suspension of thetreatin agent in liquid but T do not wish to be imited to the physical condition of the medium that this may imply. I do not know Whether the success and particular eflicacy of my method in producing excellent products is due to the contact with undissolved agent :in the liquid or to contact with dissolved agent. It is even possible that some reaction product of the agent and a component of the liqpid, or

that certain substances produced y the treating process and included in the term polymer or by-product as used herein, may either in solution or suspension, or both, contribute to the success of the process. ln any event ll intend the expressions treating agent in a liquid treating agent in liquid hydrocarbon77 or suspension in a liquid, etc., to cover all these possible physical conditions. By treating medium7 herein is meant the mixture of liquid and treating agent.

The figures illustrate two forms of apparatus suited for applying the principles of this invention.

Figure l is a diagrammatic sketch illustratiug one way in which myprocess can be applied to hydrocarbon vapors from any source, for example from a cracking process.

Figure ll illustrates a s ecific combination of distilling column an treating vessel.

My invention will be further explained with reference to the attached drawings. rlLhus, in Figure l, lower boiling hydrocarbons consisting of thosel fractions commonly designated as gasoline and kerosene together with any wild, i. e., still more volatile gases are passed by way of pipe 38 into a distilling column 39 at a suitable point, 40. The column is provided With a reflux condenser, 4l, and with a heating coil 42.

The hydrocarbon vapors coming from the distilling column are introduced through the pipe 1, which may carry a condenser 2, through the opening 3, into the treating medium a, with level at 5, and contained in a vessel or reactor 6. rThe vessel may be equipped with an agitator 7, driven by the pulley 8 through the shaft 9. T he agitator may, under certain conditions, be omitted, the agitation being supplied by the vapors entering the treatin medium. The vessel may be equipped witgh a jacket or a coil 10, which may be used either' for heating or for cooling. Hopper 11 serves for introducing alkali metal into the treating medi-um through the valve 12 and pipe 13.

A fraction, depending upon the treating temperature, of the hydrocarbon va ors entering the vessel 6 is condensed. T is condensed :traction leaves as liquid through a baffle separator 1d and pipe 15, and by a device such as 16, an approximately constant level 5 of the medium is maintained. This liquid isrun through pipe 17 into one of the upper sections of the distilling column 39.

The larger portion of the hydrocarbon vapors entering the treating vessel leaves the latter as vapor through the pipe 18, which may be equi ped with a fractional condenser 19 to con ense out, if desired, any higher boiling constituents. From the fractional condenser the vapors are led to any well known recovery system, not shown here.

Exchanger 2 has been referred to as a condenser. Both 2 and the coil l0 can be alkali metal concentration.

Leonesa used either as coolers or as heaters and their purpose is to assist in maintaining the desired treating temperature.

rlhe liquid leaving the reactor by way of separator 14 and pipe 15 consists of the heavier ends, that is, the higher boiling constituents or' the gasolines or hydrocarbons treated. rlhis liquid carries with it the byproducts formed in the reactor during the treatment.

.lnasmuch as the alkali metals are relatively light it is advisable to provide a separator, e. g., a system of baffles as at 14C, which will permit effective separation of the alkali metal from the liquid effluent.

rlhe alkali metal can be fed to the reactor in any convenient manner. lt may be prepared as a suspension in liquid hydrocarbon and the suspension added to the reactor by way of hopper 11 or the metal may be added in solid form such as bricks and agitation in the reactor Will serve to subdivide it on melting. rlhe metal might be added as a liquid or as a finely divided metal in suspension. Other methods may be applied by those skilled in handling such materials.

The percentage of the hydrocarbons fed to the treating apparatus which leaves the reactor as liquid is regulated, in general, according to the amount of by-products formed. Enough must be condensed to carry away the by-products at a satisfactory rate.

ln many cases the quality of the hydrocarbons produced by this treatment is satisfactory over a wide treatment temperature range and therefore we prefer to regulate the temperature of operation so that a suicient quantity of the hydrocarbons is condensed to keep the treating medium in satisfactory operating condition and tol provide the desired quantity of reflux liquid in the column.

ln certain cases'operation may be switched at intervals to a spare treating unit similar to reactor 6. Since the alkali metals (except lithium) settle more rapidly than the polymer, a large part of the alkalil metal, 20, collects in the lower end of the conical bottom of the reactor and may be drawn off by valve 21 and pipe 22. Or, since the bulk of the polymer which is suspended in the medium settles down just above the alkali metal most of it can be removed, along with a portion of the liquid medium, thru the pipe 23 and valve 24C, after which the treating vessel is ready for further use.

A reat variation in the concentration of alkali metal in the treating medium is possible. 'For example, certain cracked gasolines have been successfully refined with as little as 2 cgrams of sodium per liter of treating me ium. As far as quality of product is concerned there is no upper limit oi @ther things bein equal the rate of treatment will depen on the state of subdivision of the treating agent.

t is possible that certain substances produced by the treating process and included in the term by-products as it is used herein, may, either in solution or merely in suspension, contribute tothe success of' the treating process. i

The effluent from the vessel 6 fiows through pipe 17 into one of the upper sections of the'distilling column to furnish art or all of the reflux liquid necessary or the rectifying action of the column. In flowin downward this li uid carries with it the yroducts formedqby the treatment which finally leave the column with the higher boilingL hydrocarbons by way of pipe 43.

.tion in which case These igh boiling hydrocarbonsma be freed from the treatment by-products i desired by such processes as settling, filtering, centrifuging or other separating processes and can be disposed of in any convenient way; forexample, they can be cracked. If desiredfthe treatment by-products can be removed from the li uid leaving the treating vessel 6 by one o the above separating processes as shown at 44 and the llquid then introduced into the column as described above.

In general, in a rectifying column the condenser 41 must supply by condensation all of the reflux liqui necessary for o eration. According to my process the re` ux condenser 41 may be used to supply all of the reflux liquid necessar v for normal rectificatige liquid entering the column through pipev 17 is morel or less snrplus and in order to expel it from the column as vapor a corresponding? greater quantity of heat must be supplie by heating coil 42. It is preferable, however, to supply less cooling to condenser 41 so that only a part of the necessary reflun is supplied 'and the remainder then furnished by the liquid entering through ipe 17, thus using treating vessel 6 as a re ux condenser. It is evident that the reflux load can be shared in any roportion between the condenser 41 and t 1e treating vessel 6. Indeed, the condenser 41 may be dispensed with entirely and all of the reflux liquid obtained byv condensation in treating .vessel 6. An advantage of this latter arrangement is that more liquid is available forremoving treatment by-products from the treating med1um in vessel 6.

Figure 1 shows the treating vessel 6 as located higher than the distilling column and the effluent from the treating vessel returned to the column b gravity. In practice it may be desirab e to locate vessel 6 near the vround and to introduce the efiluent into tie upper part of the column by a circulating means such as a pump.

Figure 2 illustrates another method of accom lishing the objects of this invention.

lts ows the upper distilling sections of a column in-combination with a vessel con-l taining treating medium, the vessel being built into the top of the column. In gcneral this treating vessel functions in the same way as vessel 6 in Figure 1. Thus, in this case the vapors from the column pass through the annular space 1 and, as indicated by the arrows, flow downward through the tubes 2, entering by wa of tube oenings 3, into the treating med1um 4 with evel y at 5 and contained in vessel 6. Coil 10 furnishes the necessary cooling, which in this case must be sufficient to produce all of the required reflux liquid. Alkali metal can be introduced into the medium from vessel 11 through valve 12 and pipe 13. 'Ihe liquid eflluent leaving the .vessel 6 by Way of baille separator 14 and pipe 15 is discharged preferably below the liquid level on the top.

such as calcium, magnesium, mercury, lead,

tin, etc. The term by-products covers all of the substances that are formed in the treating medium and that are not removed with the treated hydrocarbon vapors leaving the treating vessel. The term hydrocarbons .stands for mineral oils, gasolinas, and any other hydrocarbon materials that may be improved by such treatment as herein described. The term reflux liquid covers the liquid component in any type of rectifier traveling counter current to the flow of vapor.

Claims: v

1. The process comprising passing hydrocarbon vapors. from a rectifier into contact witha treating medium consisting of alkali metal .in liquid hydrocarbon, removing part of the treated hydrocarbons as vapor condensing a portion of treated hydro carbon and washing therewith contaminating byproducts from the surface of unreacted alkali metal; retaining unreacted alkali metal within the treating vessel; separating 1^ the by-products therefrom and from,r the treating vessel by floating offI said by-products in liquid hydrocarbon and discharging before undesirable quantities accumulate and passing the liquid into .the upper liquid.

with a treating medium consistingoi soportion oti said rectider to serve as reduit 2. llie process comprising'passing hydrocarbon vapors from a rectifier into contact dium in liquid hydrocarbon, removing part of the treatedhydrocarbons as vapor condensing av portion oi' treated hydrocarbon in liquid hydrocarbon and discharging before undesirable quantities accumulate and passing the liquid into the upper portionv of said rectifier to serve as reflux liquid.

- 3. The process comprising passing hydrocarbon vapors from a distilling column into y contact with a treatingniedium consisting `lii, e;liei'boiling liquid hydrocarbons to relnovetreatment byproducts frointhe of alkali metal in liquid hydrocarbon in a trcatingzone apart 'romtlie rectifying zone, removing part ofthe treatedhydrocarbons as vapor and part asliquid, said liquid serving treating vessel and passing said liquid into the, upper part of said distilling column to serve asrefhixo liquid.

fil. The process comprising passing hydro-v carbon vapors from a rectifier intov contact y with av treatinv medium consisting of alkalif finctal'iii liqui hydrocarbon, removing part of the treated hydrocarbons as vapor and condensing a part in said medium, separating treating agent from a portion oi" the liquid hydrocarbon, flowing said portion from the treating vessel and removing therewith polymer formed and passing said liquid into the upper part of said rectifier to serve as reflux liquid.`

5. 'lhe process comprising passing hydrocarbon vapors from a rectiiier into contact with a treating medium consisting oi' alkali metal in liquid hydrocarbon, removing part of the treated hydrocarbons vapor and part as liquid freed of alkali inetal and passing the latter into the upper portion ot said rectifier to serve as reflux liquid and removing treatment by-products with the iscliarged from said distilling column.

G. The process comprising passing hydrocarbon vapors from a rectiien into contact with a treating medium consisting of sodiuin in liquid hydrocarbon, removing part of the treated hydrocarbons as vapor and part as liquid freed of alkali metal and passing the latter into the upper portion of said rectifier to serve as reflux liquid and removing treatment byroducts with the higher-boiling liquid ydrocarbons discharged from sai distilling column.

7. The process comprising passing hydrocarbon vapors from a distilling column into pum .1.

contact with a'tieating medium consistingy of alkali metal in liquid hydrocarbon, re-

rmoving part of the treated hydrocarbons as vapor condensing apart, separating alkali metal from a portion of the liquid, tlowing f said portion from said vessel and removing suspended polymertherewith, passing said liquid into theupper part of said distilling column to serve as refiuir liquid and removing treatment byproducts with the higherboiling liquid hydrocarbons discharged from said distilling column.

8, The process comprising passing hydro,-

carbon vapors from a distillingcolunin into. i e

contact with a treatingniedium consisting of alkali metal in liquid hydrocarbon, re-

moving part vof the treated hydrocarbons as vapor condensing a portion of treated hyi drocarbon and washing therewith containiknating byproducts vfrom the surface of unreacted alkali metal', retaining unreacted alkali metal Within the treating vessel; sepf arating the vby-products therefrom and from the treating vessel by floatin off said byproducts in liquid hydrocar on and discharging before undesirable quantities ac cumulate, said liquidfserving to remove i treatment ley-.products from the treating vessel' and passing said liquidinto the upper part oi said distilling column to serve as reflux liquid and removing treatment ley-products with the higher-boiling liquid y v hydrocarbons discharged from said disn tilling column and separating treatment byproducts rom said higher-boiling liquid hydrocarbons. l

9. Process of treating hydrocarbons oonsisting in preparing a suspension of treating agent in hydrocarbons not reactive therewith, passing hydrocarbon vapors from a rectifying column into said suspension with agitation and thereby forming solid polymer therein, removing a part of the treated vapor, condensing the remaining part oi said vapor in the suspending hydrocarbon, separating treating a ent from 'a portion of the suspending me ium containing polymer, flowing said separated hydrocarbon with suspended polymer from the treating vessel without removing therewith treating agent, separating polymer from the liquid, and passing this efliuent liquid into the upper portion of said rectifying column to serve as reflux liquid.

l0.l Process of treating hydrocarbons conlliV with oiymer suspended therein as to maini tain ow concentration of polymer in the suspension to prevent thev coating of the a1- kah metal, passing said outflowing suspending medium into a rectiyin tower to supply reiiux liquid therefor, discharging said polymer with the heavy ends of said reflux from said rectifier, leading va ors from said lrectifier to said suspension or treatment and recovering the uncondensed portion o `said vapors.

Signed at Niagara Falls,l in the county of Niagara, and State of New York, this 19th day of November, A. D. 1927. PAUL L. MAGILL. 

